Internet - finally!

As most of you know I haven't had internet at my house for a very long time. And I also haven't had a computer to use the internet on. Well, this Christmas that all changed. Jake and I got a laptop and 3 months of free internet and tv from his wonderful parents. We just got the internet up and running this week and now I'm trying to remember how to use an actual computer, rather than just my phone. Facebook is a lot bigger, it's weird. And it's very nice to have a real keyboard to type blog's on rather than my phone and a teeny tiny screen. So, now I'm going to be working on putting my pictures onto my computer and catching up on blogging. I could never put pictures on my blog using my phone. For now, I think I will just do a quick update of things that have been going on with us: We will start with the youngest member of the family, the baby in my belly. We find out on Jan 31 if that is a boy or girl baby. At the moment neither Jake, nor I have any feelings of what the gender is. Some days I think girl, some days I think boy, and same goes for Jake. At the moment I am just over 17 weeks. I started feeling some movement around 14/15 weeks but they were so faint I didn't really decide that I felt the baby until just last week. There have been some definite kicks since then. Our doctor's appointments have all gone well and so far the baby is growing just like it should. There have been no complications but we did have a little bit of a scare. A couple days after Christmas I had a little bit of spotting. From everything I read online and in my baby books it was nothing to worry about. I mean it was a tiny bit and I wasn't cramping or anything. I really wasn't worried about it. So then I had my doctor's appointment last week. I mentioned it to my doctor and he pointed out that because I am RH Negative I should have called the office and they would have told me to get a RHoGAM shot within 72 hours of bleeding. For those of you who don't know anything about being RH neg or pos I suggest you google it. It would take me a long time to explain on here. Basically, if my blood is neg and the baby's blood is pos and our blood were to mix, my blood would consider the baby's blood a bad thing and create antibodies to try and fight it off. It can create problems for the baby like anemia or brain damage or other pregnancy complications. And it can create problems for me because once my body produces antibodies, they will always be there. Meaning if I were to get pregnant again my body might go into defense mode again and I would probably miscarry. Other problems could come up if I ever needed a blood transfusion as well. Lot's of scary stuff. So when I found out that my body could have already produced antibodies since I didn't get the shot that prevents it from preventing them within the 72 hours (I was 2 weeks late for that), I was super scared. I was sent over to the hospital to get my blood drawn and then had to go back the next day to get the shot. They did a blood test to see if my blood had started producing antibodies or not and if it had then my whole pregnancy would be changing. Waiting that day and a half for the results was awful. I don't think I have prayed that hard in a very long time. I am very blessed because prayers do work. The results came back that all was well, meaning either the baby has neg blood as well (there is really no way to tell before the baby is born except amniocentesis - no thanks) or our blood didn't mix, or my blood just decided to not produce antibodies. Whatever the case may be I am SOOO grateful that everything is fine and as far as we can tell we still have a healthy baby. Now we just pray it stays that way. The good news is I don't have to worry about being RH neg now. The big shot I got from a huge needle going into my hip protects me for 12 weeks and then I get another one at 28 weeks and another one after the baby is born, unless the baby is rh neg as well. I am super excited. Honestly, I hate shots and needles and blood draws but that was the easiest shot I have ever gotten. The most painful, yes. The biggest needle, yes. But knowing that it could save my baby from some horrible things I was more than willing to get a big poke and am more than willing to do it all over again. So just to sum up, all is well with me and baby, no worries. And if you are wondering why you didn't know about this until just now it is because I didn't tell anyone. I didn't want anyone to worry before we really knew if we had to worry or not. Jake and I were the only ones that knew besides Jennifer, cuz we are pretty much married as well, haha! On to the next member of the family, Kyler. He had a wonderful Christmas, now that he is starting to understand all of the excitement. I bought a set of Christmas movies; Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Clause, etc. All the oldies that we have all seen. He loved them...a little too much. Jake and I are tired of them. But now he knows who Santa or HoHo is and all snow men are Frosty. It's pretty cute. He went to the mall and sat on Santa's lap and didn't cry or anything. He was actually excited about it. I was so happy. He is talking - a lot! It is super cute to hear all he has to say. Makes my life a little easier as well now that I don't have to guess what he wants. We are starting to potty train. I didn't really plan to but he started asking to go potty and trying to take off his diaper. I figured if he was asking we would go for it and see what happens. I have no expectations for him. If it doesn't work out just yet it isn't a big deal. The first day he went on the floor 3 times at first and then in the potty 4 times the rest of the day with no more accidents. We did put a diaper on him for his nap and bed time, I'm not ready for that part yet. The next day he did pretty good and then next day was alright. The next day was my doctor's appointment so I had other things on my mind, I left his diaper on for my own sake. After that I have been working on not being so lazy or busy. Some days are better than others but we will get there eventually. The other thing we are working on is eating. The kid still doesn't want to eat. Mom needs to try harder and dad needs to help and Ky just needs to EAT!! I'm frustrated with it but I do what I can and give him vitamins though the things he will eat. Next, Nala. Anyone want a dog? Most days we are ready to get rid of her, we won't, cuz we love her, but it is tempting at times. She is just annoying. She is a very loving dog but she is weird. She licks everything and has this new thing where she just shakes. It is like she is scared and has the shivers but we can't figure out what her deal is. Also, since I have been pregnant she smells bad to me. It's hard to cuddle with her when her smell makes me gag. And we bathe her all the time so I know it's just me. Alyssa - I'm doing well. Still loving my job at the doctor's office and loving being a mom. Sure, it isn't a cake walk but the good points way out weigh the bad. As far as my pregnancy goes I am not nauseas anymore and have more energy. It is pretty nice at the moment. Jake - At the moment he is working as the GM at the Salt Lake Sizzler and loving it, for the most part. He likes having his own store and likes the challenge that the store has given him. Salt Lake is not Utah County - that's one way of putting it. He hate's the drive. Gas isn't cheap and driving in the snow isn't fun for anyone. He has taken the front runner a few times but it is a longer trip and costs just about as much. He takes it on snowy days to put us both at ease, knowing he won't get into an accident on the way to or from work. I hate that he works up there because of the drive and because I don't ever get to visit him at work or stop by and say hi when I want to. I hate that his shifts are just as long or longer plus an extra 2 hours for driving. We are just all praying that he can come back down to the Orem store soon. They said that would happen at the beginning of the year, but there isn't an actual date so we are just playing the waiting game. Well, that's us and this blog entry is long enough, not to mention it is past my bedtime. Until the next entry...night.

Kyler the Entertainer

2 and 2 months. Talking more than ever. I wish I could write down all the words he knows but he learns a few more everyday. He is the cutest kid I've ever known. I know saying that is pretty biased since he is my kid but its true. He is the kissy-est kid. He asks for kisses and gives good kisses. He sneaks up on me and kisses my cheeks ans sometimes grabs my face to kiss me. He kisses his toys and himself in the mirror. He will kiss your owey and expects you to do the same. He also asks for hugs but that is really just a trick to get me to pick him up. Needless to say it works. He has always been super cuddle and still is. He comes and sits on my lap and asks for bankie. This past month or so his absolute favorite thing, that he will beg me for anytime of day, is a bubble baff. You may remember his first bubble bath. He was scared to death and cried until we took out all the bubbles. A few months ago he learned how to make bubbles with the soap by rubbing his hands together. He liked it so much I thought I'd give the bubble bath another try. I only put in a little and he actually really liked it. Now we can't have a bath without them and he hates getting out. He knows where the bottle of bubble bath is and will bring it to me begging for a bubble baff. The other thing he asks for lately is to "go papa's house?" The week of thanksgiving we were over there every night. He just got so used to every time we got in the car we would go there. We still go on Sundays but I think it is so precious that he asks almost everyday. And then there is Ky's truck. Not daddy's truck, not mommy's truck, not the black truck, Ky's truck. He is in love with the truck. When we are getting ready to go bye bye he always asks, "go bye-bye Ky's truck?" Usually, the answer is yes, now that I'm driving the truck since Jake takes the car to Salt Lake. But last night we had to run errands and wanted to take the car to save gas. He cried and cried. It broke his heart to not take the truck. And daddy was so mean for saying no to taking it. He wouldn't talk or even look at Jake for a good half hour. When we got to our destination Jake went to get him out of the car. He said, "no, mom." And pushed Jake away. He is learning his colors. He has mastered black, white, pink, and blue. In that order. He will point out anything in those colors and we are working on the rest. I think he is having a harder time with the rest because purple, orange, and yellow are harder to say. Red I'm not so sure other than its really close to pink. And its weird because I didn't even teach him the color pink. Maybe it was tv? Who knows where kids pick up on stuff. The child won't eat. He barely eats 2 meals a day. I feel like a horrible mom but I just have to remember that all kids go through phases like this. He drinks a breakfast shake thing every morning that's packed with vitamins and stuff and offered a breakfast food to go with it. Whether he eats the toast, cereal, or whatever I offer him is his choice. Sometimes I can get him to eat a sandwich and some fruit for lunch, or he will take a few bites of mac and cheese. Then, after his nap, which he is really good about taking, but I'll get to that in a bit, he will usually eat an ok dinner, depending on what we have. And usually he will just pick at it and then later eat something else for dinner. I know, its not the best on my part but at the moment its what I can do. Which reminds me, something funny that he keeps asking for and once again I don't know where he got it is birtday cake. Every time we go to Jake's parents he asks for it. I know we celebrate a lot of birthdays there and eat cake but I didn't know it was often enough for him to think we get it every time we go. He is such a good sleeper. Probably because that's one of the only things I really try to be consistent with. I know this isn't every parents idea of ideal but it works for us. He goes to bed at 11, because that's when we do.and wakes up between 9 and 10, when we do. Right now we are lucky enough to have one of us home with him in the morning so he gets to sleep in. Then he goes down for a nap between 2 and 3 and sleeps for 3 hours almost every time. I actually have to wake him up most the time so he doesn't over sleep and is cranky. A few other cute things: His new favorite word is "dep" which is actually "yep". I say it a lot so its no wonder he caught on. He fake sleeps. It's hilarious. I'm not sure of he learned it from Jake or someone else but he says, "I nigh nigh" and then closes his eyes and pretends to snore. If he gets frustrated with something he says, "come on" just like Jake and I do. His very favorite drink is apple juice and asks for it all day long. He gets one or two cups a day, depending on when he pooped last, other wise he gets water, powerade, or crystal light. He does ask for milk and gets just about as much as he can drink a day. He knows there is a baby in mommy's tummy. He isn't sure why or how but believes us when we say there is. If we ask him what's in there while pointing at my tummy he will say baby. He knows most of his animals and their noises. He counts. Sorta. It usually sounds like, " 1, 2, N, 8, R, Q, N, 9!!" He likes to take his own picture with my phone. And the kissy face is his favorite pose. He hates that I lose my hair everywhere more than anyone. When one gets on him he will run to me saying, "ewe, ewe, ewe!" Until I get it off for him. I don't blame him. He asks who and why a lot. He says ok when I ask him to do or not do things and I just love it. He doesn't do it every time but when he does I am the happiest mommy ever. I really need to start a daily journal because he comes up with something I don't want to forget everyday. I have soo many videos of him. I don't even know what I'm going to do with them all. I hope that when I get a computer I will be better about blogging. It is just so frustrating to blog on my phone.

Baby No. 2

My first post about my second child. Oh my gosh, I'm going to have a second child. I think reality is hitting. Right now. This second. Ok, moving on. First, I want to start by telling the dream I had the other night about baby no. 2. It starts off with the baby just appearing in my arms while I'm lying in bed. (Thank you stork for letting me skip labor.) So Jake and I realize we have to go to the hospital, cuz you know, we just had a baby. We are running around the house and gathering things up, getting ready to go. Then suddenly I realize we have a huge problem. The only strollers we have are two little toy strollers Kyler has. I'm freaking out because how can we possibly use those to get to the hospital?! And that's when Jake saves the day! He announces we just use the double stroller he bought! I am completely overjoyed saying how wonderful he is. He saved the day. So we are finishing the packing when I tell Jake I have a very weird question for him. "Honey, when the baby came out did you happen to see if it was a boy or a girl?" He says he thinks it is a boy but he will check. He takes off the diaper and confirms it is a boy. He hands him to me while he goes to get another diaper when I realize the baby is about to pee. I start yelling for Jake and realize I don't have time so I hold him over a nearby trash can while he pees everywhere. We get the diaper on and the kids in the side by side stroller. That's when I see it the baby is a miniature version of Kyler. Weird, but adorable. So then Jake and I start discussing names. I guess we decided to just do Jacob with a k so its kacob. Haha, it looks even funnier than it sounds, wait, no it doesn't. Say it, ka-cob. Haha. So we are arguing because he thinks it should be pronounced like kaleb. I have to convince him it is kacob because of how it is spelled. (what would we call him? Cake?) Haha, anyway, the whole time we are arguing I am even more mad because we picked kacob instead of our already picked name. (no, I'm not telling it in this story.) And that was it. I woke up thinking what an awesome dream. Then I told Jake and laughed, told my mom and laughed harder, told Jennifer and typed this and I'm still laughing at how ridiculous it was. Love pregnancy dreams! I'll post more later. I hate blogging on my phone.

What's Up?

I haven't done an update in a very long time. It is just hard on my phone and hard to find time. So at the moment I am using my father-in-law's computer and hoping Kyler doesn't get into much so I can do a quick update.

Can I first just start off with how wonderful my husband is? At the moment he is mowing his parent's lawn. He does this every Tuesday. His dad hasn't been in the best of health lately so Jake voulenteered to take over the yard work for his dad. He is such a hard worker and it makes me so proud. He was obviously raised by amazing parents who taught him how to work hard and serve others. A quality I hope I can put into my son (and other future children) as well.

 So what's been up with us? Well, we recently went on a week long trip to Flaming Gorge. A week is TOO long! I enjoy camping but I'd rather it be a weekend trip. I like showers and refridgerators and grocery stores and all the wonderful things I have at home. This was my frist time to Flaming Gorge so I didn't really know what to expect. The water was a lot colder than I was hoping for so we didn't do as much swimming as I would have liked. I think after that trip I can now appreciate Lake Powell a lot more. The weather is hotter but that also just means you can get in the water more often and it gives you something to do. There sand at Lake Powell isn't so close to dirt like it is a FG so sand castles are more fun. And you don't have as many rocks to step on when wading on shore. Also, I don't think it would have mattered where we went, having an almost 2 year old while camping is a completely different experience than it is when you don't have kids. I'm pretty sure I spent most of the time chasing after Kyler and trying to keep him entertained more than anything. I have pictures from the trip but I've put most of them on Instagram and/or Facebook. I think most of the people who read my blog follow me there too so I won't take the time to transfer pics from my phone to computer to blog.

I guess other than what I've already mentioned there hasn't been a lot else going on. Jake's Birthday was last week, I'm sure you saw the pics of the fabulous cake I made for him. And for those of you who don't know it, I do not like peanut butter so I didn't eat any of the cake. It was purely for Jake. He isn't big on birthday's so all the celebrating we did was the cake and going to Red Lobster for dinner.

I'll probably post more about this on my personal blog but the other big thing going on in our lives is that Jennifer is moving to VT. It's hard to talk about and think about. She has been a huge part of my life for the past 6 years and it will be hard to learn to live without her being so close. But like I said, more on that later.

 I can't believe Kyler will be 2 in just over a month! He is talking a lot, although, not as much as most kids his age. I'm sure it will catch up but for now we are still working on it. He still cracks me up with everything he says and does. He is quite the entertainer.

Well, Jake's finished mowing the lawn and we have errands to run so I'll cut it short. Until next time!

5 down, Millions to Go

August 9th was our 5 year anniversary. To celebrate we rented a condo in Park City and left Kyler with my family. To my surprise he did great his first night away from us. (And I didn't do too bad myself!) We had a really nice room with an indoor pool right below us. We did a lot of swimming and relaxing the first day. We walked down main street and stopped at all the little shops and art galleries. Then we got Pizza Hut for dinner. I know what you're thinking...Why pizza on our anniversary? Because its tradition. On the night after our wedding night we got pizza because we didn't know you had to make reservations for the restaurant at the resort we were staying at. So we didn't get in and didn't want to drive far to find a place to eat. So we had pizza delivered. And for another anniversary in Vegas we were pretty broke (thanks to renters) and we got Pizza Hut again. So this year we decided to stick with tradition. Besides, I actually really like Pizza Huts greasy pizza. Anyway, then we watched a movie we had rented and had rootbeer floats for dessert. The next day Jake made us a yummy egg burrito breakfast and then we went on the Alpine Slide. It was a lot of fun but not really worth the money in our opinion. After that we went and picked op Kyler and spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. I think even though we didn't do anything super extreme, getting away for a night and spending some quality time together was just what we needed. I'm so glad and so lucky to be married to such an amazing man!

Vaca 2012

We had a fantastic California vacation last week. We went to San Diego with Bobby and Emily, Emily's parents, and Mike and Meagan, and all the kids. We got there on Monday afternoon and headed straight for the beach while we waited for our room to get ready. On Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo. Spent the whole day. It was lots of fun but it was a lot of walking. On Wednesday we went to the wild animal park. I had never been and it was a lot of fun. I thought it would be just like the zoo but it wasn't. The animals weren't in cages and it was cool to see them in their more natural habitat. We took a tram ride around the park and got to see lots of really cool animals. My favorites were the giraffes, which were pretty close to the road. We got to see lots of elephants and went to a really cool bird show. The only bad part was the heat and the walking. That park was bigger than the zoo. On Thursday we got to sleep in and then we had a beach day. Kyler played in the sand and Jake and his brother's played on the biggie boards. They got scratched up by them up pretty bad but they said it was worth it. We had a beach barbeque for lunch and then we went back to the hotel for nap time while everyone else played at the pool. That night we went to a couple of the night shows at Sea World, including the fireworks show, which was a lot of fun. Friday was our favoriteday, Sea World Day!! It's Jake's favorite park. The shows were great and it was a lot of fun to see all the animals, touch the starfish, and feed the sting rays. We went on rides and ate some really yummy food. When Saturday came and we were so sad to go. We drove to Vegas and stayed in a cheap hotel. Had a bad night's sleep because of the spot light shining right on our room, noisy ac and the fear of Kyler rolling off the bed. The next morning we made our way to St. George in order to pick up a few things from our house. We are planning on selling it soon so we wanted the fridge, water heater, BBQ, and fan we bought for the place. Hopefully we'll get a couple bucks from them. Anyway, we pulled up to the house to find the lock changed. It has been empty so long they considered it abandoned. Of course it was Sunday so the company wouldn't come unlock the door. So Jake and Mike put their heads together and broke in to the sliding door, of our own house. We eventually got in and got our stuff. The place was gross. Our previous renters were disgusting. Just like all of our past renters. Ugh. I hate that house. So we got our stuff and headed back home. Finally, home sweet home. Overall a pretty fun vacation!! -Turns out I can't add pictures from my phone so I'll have to do that later. Check back soon!

The Latest With Ky

I have the silliest little boy! He cracks me up. He is starting to talk more but only a few words actually make sense. He says "no" to everything. Even when he means yes. I told him the other day, "you keep saying that word, I do not think it means what you think it means." He recently started nodding for yes, even though he says no first. Crazy kid. He has an obsession with shoes. He says the word shoes and gets very excited when we put them on him. He doesn't seem to have a favorite pair. He will get up in the morning and that's the first thing he asks for, "shoes?" At the moment he is in his pj's and has his sandals on. He loves to draw. Give him a pencil and paper and he turns into a little artist. It is so cute. He lays on his tummy and puts a lot of thought into what he is drawing. He LOVES Nala. He now calls her "lala" and he will play with her and pet her and even yell at her when he thinks she is being bad. If she goes outside he will yell out the doggy door until she comes back in. Last night he was telling her to sit on the couch, pointing at the spot he wanted her and yelling "sit!" When she finally sat, he sighed like "finally". It was so funny. He loves to run. We went to the summerfest and he ran all over just laughing as I chased him. Even with all that wind he didn't seem to mind. He runs in the yard with Nala and down the halls at church. Which is a problem. He used to be so good at sitting on the bench, revrently. Now he just wants to run out to the hall and run all over the church. Ugh, I hope he snaps out of that soon. I am tired of spending sacrament in the halls trying to keep up with him. He is just like his mommy, everyone says. He is a clean freak. Give him a napkin, paper towel, wipe, or wash cloth and he will clean whatever he can find. He wipes up spills and cleans his toys and washes his hands and face. If he finds something on the floor he will bring it to me and then put it in the garbage if I ask him to. If anyone reading this has seen my facebook lately they will have seen the video of him cleaning the tub last night. He plays a lot of pretend. He know train and says chuh chuh choo choo! And he says beep beep for every car he sees. He makes pretend food with his kitchen and bring it to Jake and I to eat. He is quite the little cook. He still talks on his play phone a lot. The conversations with his friends have gotten longer and now start with hello and end with bye-bye. He is starting to ask questions like, "whas dat?" And "where's it?" And he mumbles other questions that I'm not sure how to answer cuz I can't figure out what he's saying. He is a professional at saying "thank you" and we are working on please. If you hand him anything or do anything for him he will say thank you. He is so polite. He is VERY observant. He tries to.curl his eye lashes with my eye lash curler. He know how to brush his teeth and comb his hair. He puts on lotion. And my favorite, he tries to go potty. We got a little training potty from my parents because my brother is done with it and we put it in the bathrrom until we are ready to potty train. He sits on it and asks for a square of tp. I had it to him and he will "wipe his bum" and then put it in the big toilet. Cracks me up. We aren't ready to potty train yet cuz I don't think he talks enough to really let us know when he would need to go. And we need to work on him taking his pants off and on. (we've avoided that for obvious reasons). But for now I think he is getting all the practice he needs by pretending. He does sit on the potty before his bath. I'm hoping one day the water running will give him the urge to go before he gets in the tub. He is quite the dancer. Turn on some music and he shakes that booty. I don't even know where he learned it but it is the cutest thing. One of these days I'll finally catch it on camera. He is practicing for his birthday, I guess. He now know how to blow and thinks its silly. He will blow on his food before he eats, even if it is ice cold. He blows the dandelions and leaves in the yard. And his new fun game is to blow towards me and I act like he is blowing me over. He laughs so hard he can't blow anymore. He is seriously the funniest kid I know. Everyday he comes up with something else that just cracks me up. I wish I could write down all his funny things but I can hardly keep up with him as it is!